Shooting Indy Fuel Hockey

The Indy Fuel at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum

Last night I was having a blast shooting some hockey at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum (formerly the Pepsi Coliseum) for the Indy Fuel. This was my first time shooting at the Pepsi Coliseum since they renovated the building. In fact it was my first time shooting there since I shot my first roller derby bout there in 2012. Things have progressed amazingly well since that first bout. I have since done many things that I would never have dreamed of doing back then. Last night though was all about making some hockey photos. One aspect of my portfolio that needs some work is the hockey portion. With no real options here in town I have to leave town to make a good photo. I will be shooting a few Indy Fuel games this winter so I plan on filling the portfolio with my take as the year goes on. I love hockey, and it is a very cool thing to be able to photograph more of it. I knew it was going to be a good night when the players parted so that I could make a photo of Cody Sharib score the first goal of the night. Once you have that photo in the can you can relax and make some interesting pictures. Cody scoring his goal is the photo above that leads off this post.

Shooting From the Catwalk

I really wanted a new look when I went to the stadium last night. One angle that I did not expect to make was an overhead shot over the goal. Luckily during the third period the Fuel were shooting at a goal with a catwalk directly overhead. I went up to make a few photos to see if anything interesting would happen below me. Of course the Fuel did not score, but I did like the photo above. This play happened almost immediately after I was set up on the catwalk. I was lucky to get there when I did. One thing about shooting above the ice is that you have to be very careful. I took anything that could potentially fall off my body off including my glasses. I was secure on the catwalk, and I secured my camera and lens to my body. You want to be as careful as you can be up there as you don’t want to ruin a good thing for everyone, or even worse hurt someone. A little extra care goes a long way towards keeping everyone safe.

Whiteshark Photo

Last night would not have been nearly as much fun or successful without the help of Whiteshark Photo. The team behind Whiteshark photo is John and Kelly Wickman. From what I saw last night they are a great team as you would expect from a husband and wife photography team. I would probably still be finding my way around the coliseum if not for their help. They are the official photographers of the Indy Fuel, and they are worth taking a look at. You can find their website here. They have a pretty cool job covering the Indy Fuel every game. From what I could see last night they love every minute of it.

Bonus Photos

As I usually do with my sports shoots I will post a couple of extra shots that I liked from the game last night. This was the first of many shoots at the coliseum this year so I took my time learning the different shooting positions. I may have spent too much time walking around to find those positions, but I still managed to shoot some game action. Below are a few photos that I liked from the game.

About Pinola Photo

I am a sports and lifestyle photographer based in West Lafayette, IN home of Purdue University. I cover sports for Big Ten teams as well as other colleges. You can follow me on twitter @pinolaphoto. You can also view my website at www.davewegielphoto.net